Third Chapter (2)

In Modern English

The Greek emperor, the Armenian Vartan, at the beginning of the year 90, expelled from Amasya the tax officials Mesleme had left, removed the patriarch Kalis from office, appointed a man named Garitunus patriarch of Amasya, and gathered about eighty thousand soldiers. With this move he hoped to take the land of Anatolia from the hands of the Islamic mujahids.

When this move of Vartan reached Damascus, Emir Mesleme, governor of the east, set out from Damascus in the month of Receb of the year 91 with eighty thousand infantry and thirty thousand cavalry mujahids and reached Ankara by way of Tarsus without hindrance.

Simon, governor of Ankara, resisted with the force he had; in the battle that took place his soldiers were badly scattered and he himself was killed, so Emir Mesleme entered the city of Amuriye (Ankara) in triumph and decided to attack as far as the center of the Pontus continent.

Since the emperor Vartan, who had promised to retake the Greek land, made a bad impression on the Greeks by putting on a show in the imperial palace and leaving his commanders alone, he was deposed after the fall of Ankara and Anastasius II was proclaimed Greek emperor in his place.

Emir Mesleme, setting out from Ankara by way of Çorum, made his camp the Geldiklan Plain, a plain on the west side of the ancient city of Harşene (Amasya), the center of the Greek land (the center of the province of Pontus), built on both banks of a river, surrounded by high mountains and called by the epithet "Mesihiyye," and began to press Amasya.

Agriton (Garitunus), patriarch of Amasya, tried to resist with the force he had, but was defeated in the first thrust and withdrew; asking for help from the empire, he tried to fortify the city of Amasya; hanging imaginary pictures of Jesus and Mary on the bastions of the fortresses of Amasya, he strove to stir the religious feelings of the Greeks.

While the emperor Anastas at once sent to Amasya with thirty thousand soldiers a commander named Le'on İsori, governor of Anatolia, and prepared another relief force, Emir Mesleme was approaching Amasya from the west and beginning the assault.

In the year 92, in response to the violent attack Emir Mesleme made to descend onto Amasya from Rabz Kalis (Bağ-ı Kelkîs, Şeyh Cûî Bağları), that is, from Karaman Mountain, west of Mesihiyye (Amasya), Le'on, governor of Anatolia, and Agriton, patriarch of Amasya, defended fiercely. The soldiers of both sides were wounded; Emir Mesleme was wounded together with some twelve Islamic emirs, a good number of mujahids fell martyrs, and they withdrew to the plains of Geldiklan and Çorum.

That the ghazis Suheyb and Ma'dî Kerb, believed to be buried in the city of Çorum, were among the blessed ghazis who returned wounded from this battle and died there is inferred from this historical event. Otherwise it is certain among hadith scholars that Suheyb-i Rûmî, of the Companions, is buried in Medina and that Ma'dî Kerb Gazi fell a martyr in the Iranian wars.

Thereupon Emir Mesleme asked for help from Damascus and Agriton from Istanbul. A relief force of eighty thousand came from Damascus under the command of Muhammed ibn Mervân ibn el-Hakem, and as the mujahids grew stronger they began to renew the assault.

In the year 93 Emir Mesleme attacked Amasya a second time from the same place; Agriton and Le'on, with the relief force they had received, resisted, and a fierce battle took place between the two sides. But the commander of the Islamic mujahids, Emir Mesleme, and then in turn the emirs Muhammed ibn Mervân, Muhammed ibn Abdulaziz ibn Mervân, Muhammed ibn el-Ahnef, Abdurrahman ibn Sa'sa'a, Abdullah ibn Said, and after them Ebu'l-Hüseyin Abdullah el-Antâkî, that is, Battal Gazi, attacked, and all returned wounded.

Then, after Battal Gazi's return wounded, the emir Abdullah ibn Cerîr el-Becelî, though wounded, attacked once more, causing many Muslims to fall martyrs and himself to be wounded, so that bewilderment grew in the Islamic army and the idea of turning back began to strengthen in everyone.

Seeing this situation, Recâ ibn Hayât, the official in charge of booty, gave a very heartfelt speech and encouraged the mujahids. Thereupon the emir Dahhâk ibn Yezid es-Sülemî, though wounded, could not hold back and made one more fierce attack, but fell a martyr together with very many Muslims. Thereupon the booty official Recâ ibn Hayât took over the military command, attacked the Greeks like a lion, descended from Karaman Mountain and penetrated into the heart of the Greeks.

Since the Greeks' encircling Emir Recâ made it appear that he had fallen a martyr, while the Islamic mujahids were withdrawing and broken, the emir Muhammed ibn Abdulaziz, then the Islamic commander Emir Mesleme and Battal Gazi, though wounded, were able to regroup the withdrawing mujahids, each with a lionlike attack.

Emir Mesleme's encouraging the mujahids with heartfelt speeches on one side and, on the other, his valiantly crying "Yâ le'z-zafer!" and attacking repeatedly like a roaring lion raised the spirit of the Islamic soldiers and intensified their self-sacrificing assaults. The Greeks were badly broken. Battal Gazi too entered the broken Greek army and with one sword blow unhorsed the patriarch Agriton, who was commanding on horseback, cut off his head and threw it into the Islamic army.

When the Islamic mujahids saw Agriton's severed head, they attacked at once with the cry of "Allahu Ekber" that made the high mountains of Mesihiyye (Amasya) resound, scattered the Greeks and entered the valley of Harşene in triumph, and the people of the fortress asked for quarter.

Emir Mesleme, entering the city of Amasya victorious and triumphant, first investigated those who had expelled the tax officials from Amasya and then those who had killed them; he exiled those who had caused it to the Jazira and destroyed those who had done it themselves. Then he gave the emirate of Amasya to the emir Sürâka and, leaving three hundred mujahids with him, set out toward Istanbul.

In the Hijri year 93 the province of Pontus was conquered as far as the Black Sea, and the city of Amasya, the provincial center, was conquered in this way and passed to the Islamic caliphate in Damascus. As proof of this terrible battle, to this day, whenever excavation is done in the Şeyh Cûî and Karaman areas called "Rabz Kalis," clusters of human bones come out, and the body of a tall, white-bearded, full-fleshed man with all his organs intact that came out in 1313 constantly shows this.

Although there is a small difference in the year and course of this battle event summarized from all the Arab histories, since it is certain that the battle and conquest took place, the date may be two years earlier or one year later. But judging by the fact that most books of biographical dictionaries and literature relate this event through reliable transmissions, it is understood that the determination of the date by the manner of narration we have translated agrees with the general Arab histories.

Sürâka ibn Abdurrahman es-Sülemî, governor of Amasya, was a relative of Dahhâk ibn Yezid es-Sülemî, who fell a martyr in the battle of Amasya, and one of the emirs of the Benî Süleym tribe; in 93 he had been appointed by Emir Mesleme as guardian of the province of Pontus and coastal emir as far as the shores of Bahr-i Bentaş (the Black Sea).

Since the Islamic caliphate pressed the Greeks extremely hard by land and sea and threatened Istanbul, the military body that rose against the emperor Anastas proclaimed one of its commanders emperor under the name Theodosius III and, after a siege of six months, forced its way into Istanbul and exiled Anastas to Salonica (94, 95).

Velîd ibn Abdülmelik, who held the caliphal office, died in the month of Safer 96, and his brother Süleyman became caliph of the Muslims. In his time Le'on İsori, commander of Anatolia, had become Greek emperor by promising to take back the conquered Greek lands.

In fulfillment of this promise the emperor Le'on, contrary to the verbal assurances he had given to Emir Mesleme, raised a great army and sent it with İtak (Isakiyus), whom he had appointed governor of Pontus. Sürâka es-Sülemî, emir of Amasya, seeing in 97 that it was not possible to resist a great army that came suddenly with three hundred mujahids, returned with the force he had from Amasya to the city of Tarende; then Isakiyus, governor of Pontus, occupied Amasya.

Isakiyus, governor of Pontus, calculating that the suddenly attacked Islamic mujahids would gather strength and come back again, tried to fortify the city of Amasya and repair the ruined parts of the fortress. Emir Sürâka, for his part, reported the situation from Tarende to Damascus and asked for help.

The caliph of the Muslims, Süleyman ibn Abdülmelik, was angered by this unexpected event contrary to the agreements and the assurances in force and in the spring of 98 raised two armies. He sent one under the command of his own son Emir Dâvud to Harşene and appointed a mujahid named Emir Ca'vene et-Temîmî to the governorship of the land of Fon (Pontus); the other he sent to Istanbul under the command of the famous emir Mesleme.

When the emperor Le'on understood from the movement of Emir Mesleme, who had come as far as the Dardanelles, that Istanbul was in danger, he at once assigned the force at hand to the defense of Istanbul and also summoned Isakiyus, governor of Pontus, with his soldiers. Emir Dâvud, with his military force, came straight to the city of Harşene (Amasya) and, after a small siege, entered the city when the Greeks asked for quarter.

Ca'vene ibn el-Hâris et-Temîmî was one of the emirs of the Benî Temîm tribe and one of the brave who had shown valor in the events of 93. In 98 he became governor of Amasya and guardian of the sea coasts. Emir Dâvud, leaving with Ca'vene three hundred mujahids as before, left Amasya with those with him to join Emir Mesleme's army.

But according to the information given by the Arab histories, Sul ibn Buht es-Sünevî er-Rûmî, who is understood to have been one of the Pecheneg Turks who lived around Amasya, the center of the Greek land, and had accepted Christianity, accepted Islam at this time and joined the mujahids; he spent his strength for the spread of Islam and brought very many of the Pechenegs into the saving circle of Islam.

Sul ibn Buht es-Sünevî is recorded in all Arab histories under the names "Abdulvehhab ibn Buht er-Rûmî, Abdulvehhab ibn Bûht es-Sünevî, Abdulvehhab es-Sûlî"; among the Turks he is very famous as "Abdulvehhab Gazi," by another name "Sulu Gazi," is counted among the Islamic heroes in the Battalnâmes, and is buried in Sivas. This person is thought to have been one of the Pecheneg beys, of the grandsons of Sungal Han, who lived in the town of "Sûnâ, Zana" near Amasya.

On the tenth day of Safer 99 the caliph Süleyman ibn Abdülmelik died, and Ömer ibn Abdülaziz, whom he had chosen, became caliph of the Muslims.

Ca'vene ibn el-Hâris, emir of Amasya, reported to the caliph that the Greek emperor Le'on İsori had set out to retake the Pontus continent and had sent a great number of soldiers, asked for help, and while awaiting the reply had taken a defensive stance in Amasya.

In the reply order that came at the beginning of the year 100, since the view that the conquests of Harşene and Tarende had no benefit other than shedding Muslim blood in vain and harming the treasury prevailed, it was announced that Ca'vene was appointed to the emirate of Malatya and that they should live in Malatya together with the Muslims living in Harşene and Tarende. For this reason Emir Ca'vene left with the force he had Amasya, which had already been besieged by the former governor Isakiyus; then Isakiyus too entered Amasya with his soldiers.

Isakiyus, governor of Amasya, after taking and receiving the surrender of Amasya, pursued Emir Ca'vene as far as the city of "Savas, Sivas" and thus retook the whole Pontus continent. In his time idolatrous worship of the made pictures of Christian saints such as Jesus, Mary and Paul was forbidden, and since the pictures of the saints were removed from the churches of Amasya, the image-worship dispute divided the Christians in Amasya into two factions.

In the month of Receb 101 the caliph Ömer ibn Abdulaziz died by poisoning; then Yezid ibn Abdülmelik, and with his death in the month of Şaban 105 his brother Hişam ibn Abdülmelik, took the caliphal office. Then, around 106, the governorship of Pontus was given to a commander named Kostantin.

Kostantin, governor of Pontus, to free the southern part of Cappadocia from Islamic rule, set out from Amasya in 107 with the military force he took and attacked Malatya; after taking the city by war he destroyed it and returned, annihilating and torturing the Muslims in a manner befitting savages. When this news reached Damascus everyone was greatly grieved.

The caliph Hişam ibn Abdülmelik, angered by this sudden event, raised a great army and sent it to the Greek land in 107 under the command of his brother, the famous emir Mesleme. Emir Mesleme first retook Malatya, then conquered the city of Kayseri by war; then, to pursue the routed Greeks, he divided his army into two: one part he sent toward the Ankara area under the command of İbrahim ibn Hişam ibn Abdülmelik, the other toward the Harşene area under the command of Muaviye ibn Hişam ibn Abdülmelik.

Kostantin, governor of Pontus, hearing that Emir Muaviye ibn Hişam was moving with the force he had from Kayseri toward the city of Tarende, resisted but was routed in the battle and returned to Tokat; Muaviye pursued him and took Tarende and then the towns of "Tohat, Tokat."

Kostantin, governor of Pontus, returning to Amasya, tried on one hand to fortify the city and on the other to gather the force at hand by asking for help from the empire and encouraging the routed Greeks to fight. In 109 Muaviye ibn Hişam, moving by way of "Gazale, Zile," came as far as the front of Derb-i Harşene (the Amasya Gorge).

In 111 Emir Muaviye, receiving a great relief force from Damascus, came straight with Islamic heroes such as Amr ibn el-Veddâh el-Kelbî, Ebu'l-Hüseyin el-Battal el-Antâkî and Abdulvehhab ibn Bûht er-Rûmî es-Sünevî assigned to the said emir, and attacked the city of Harşene a second time from the former place.

Emir Muaviye attacked three times with a final violence; Kostantin, governor of Amasya, unable to withstand the attacks of the Islamic mujahids in the bloody battles, was badly routed and fled wounded toward the shores of Bahr-i Bentaş (the Black Sea), and the Greeks asked for quarter.

Emir Muaviye entered Harşene in triumph in the month of Muharrem 112 and gave quarter to all the Christians. Staying in Amasya about two months with the force he had, he gave the emirate of Amasya to Amr ibn el-Veddâh and the emirate of "Savas, Sivas" to the famous ghazi Abdulvehhab ibn Bûht; leaving some mujahids in Amasya, he returned, and Battal Gazi and Abdulvehhab Gazi with their forces moved toward the Sivas area.

Amr ibn el-Veddâh el-Kelbî, emir of Amasya, was a valiant man, one of the emirs of the Benî Kelb tribe and among the Islamic heroes; he had fought in the Greek land for twenty years and had come to know the Pontus continent thoroughly. Although he became emir of Amasya in 112, the military force remaining with him was small.

Kostantin, the former governor of Amasya, learning of the emirs' return and of the fewness of the mujahids remaining in Amasya, returned in 113 with a great force he took from the "Sinop, Sinob" area and besieged Amasya. Although Emir Amr defended Amasya bravely, understanding that resisting with a small force was not possible, he left Amasya with those with him.

When Kostantin, governor of Amasya, followed Emir Amr and moved toward Sivas, Amr ibn el-Veddâh united with Abdulvehhab ibn Bûht, emir of Sivas. Although they fought repeatedly to defend Sivas together, Kostantin's great force broke their hope of resisting.

Battal Gazi was present at this battle; but according to the account of Câmiu'd-Düvel, since he left Abdulvehhab alone, Abdulvehhab Gazi was angered and attacked the enemy army violently with very few soldiers and, after fighting for a good while, fell a martyr in 113.

In short, while Kostantin, governor of Amasya, having fully retaken the Pontus continent, was living in Amasya, Emir Muaviye, receiving a relief force under the command of Malik ibn Şebîb el-Bâhilî, one of the emirs, attacked Harşene again in 114.

The former emir Amr ibn el-Veddâh, who was with Emir Muaviye, attacked Harşene on one side and Malik ibn Şebîb el-Bâhilî on the other; Kostantin defended and a battle took place. Malik el-Bâhilî fell a martyr with most of his soldiers, and when Emir Muaviye too was wounded and was necessarily withdrawing toward the Tarende area, Amr ibn el-Veddâh, in the rear guard, returned repeatedly, scattered the Greeks, and burned and plundered villages.

But since this defeat had affected Emir Muaviye greatly, in 115, with a great force made up of valiant emirs such as Amr ibn el-Veddâh, Cemâl ibn Bişr el-Kilâbî, Amr ibn Malik ibn Şebîb el-Bâhilî and Ebü'l-Hüseyin el-Battal el-Antâkî, he besieged and pressed Harşene from three sides for the fourth time.

Although Kostantin, governor of Amasya, made extreme efforts, the Greeks' power of resistance had been broken before the patience and valor of the Islamic mujahids; their flight defeated Kostantin badly and he was taken prisoner. Then Emir Muaviye entered Harşene in triumph and also took thousands of Greeks prisoner.

Although the Byzantine emperor Le'on, upon this defeat, sent a relief force a second time, when Emir Mesleme helped the mujahids from Kayseri the Greeks left the war and made peace on condition that Harşene and its dependencies remain on the side of the Islamic caliphate as far as the sea coasts, and both sides released their prisoners of war mutually.

Emir Muaviye stayed in Amasya for a time and gave the emirate of Amasya to Cemâl ibn Bişr, one of the emirs with distinguished self-sacrificing service, and the emirate of Tarende to Amr ibn el-Veddâh; after appointing the hadith transmitter Ebû Abdurrahman Amr ibn Elgâz ibn Rebî'a et-Temîmî as the first kadı of Harşene, he left a sufficient number of mujahids in Amasya and returned to Damascus.

Cemâl ibn Bişr el-Kilâbî, governor of Amasya, was one of the emirs of the Benî Kilâb tribe, had shown valor in the wars of the Greek land, and had been appointed to the governorship of Amasya in the month of Rebiülevvel of the year 115. He tried to protect Amasya well for about three years by sending provisions and relief forces to Ebü'l-Hüseyin el-Antâkî, who as emir of Sivas was busy with wars around Erzurum.

But when it spread that the emperor Le'on had sent a military force under the command of a commander named Covanes (Yovanis) to rescue the Pontus continent, the defense of Amasya came into danger and Cemâl ibn Bişr el-Kilâbî at once asked for help from the caliphal center.

In 118 the caliph Hişam ibn Abdülmelik had raised an army and given it to his son Süleyman, and, adding to it the emirs Amr ibn Malik el-Bâhilî and Velîd ibn el-Ka'kâ' et-Temîmî, had sent them all to the land of Fon (Pontus).

Meanwhile Cemâl ibn Beşîr el-Kilâbî, understanding that Yovanis was coming from the Sinop side with his soldiers against Amasya, resisted with the force he had, but since he fell a martyr during the bloody battles that continued, Amr ibn Elgâz et-Temîmî, kadı of Amasya, strove to defend by blocking the gorges of Amasya.

At this time Emir Süleyman ibn Hişam, having reached Amasya's aid by way of Tarende, at once took an offensive stance, routed Yovanis's army and pursued it as far as Sinop; uniting the Pontus continent and the Cappadocia continent, he gave the emirate to Amr ibn Malik el-Bâhilî, whose valor in the wars was recognized.

Amr ibn Malik el-Bâhilî, governor of Amasya, was the son of Malik ibn Şebîb, who fell a martyr in the battle of Amasya written above, and, like his father, was one of the emirs of the Benî Bâhile tribe. Upon the martyrdom of Cemâl ibn Bişr, in mid-118 he became governor of Amasya and "emîrü'l-avâsım," that is, guardian of the Greek frontiers; Amr ibn Elgâz et-Temîmî also became, as before, "emîrü'l-mezâlim," that is, kadı of Amasya.

After Emir Süleyman, leaving about five hundred mujahids in Amasya, returned to Damascus, since it became clear that the emperor Le'on would raise a second military unit and send Yovanis against Amasya again, in 119 Velîd ibn el-Ka'kâ', with the Islamic mujahids he took, came as far as Gazale (Zile) and strengthened Amr ibn Malik.

In 120 Emir Süleyman ibn Hişam, to support them, set out from Damascus with a military force and came to Harşene. Settling in the town of Semendû (Ziyare) near Harşene, he stopped the military moves the Greek commander Yovanis would make against the Pontus continent.

Since the Greek commander Yovanis attacked the Pontus continent in 121, Emir Mesleme, son of the caliph Hâşim, who came to help, and Amr ibn Malik, governor of Amasya, resisted and scattered the Greeks and pursued them toward the Kastamonu area.

As understood from these military movements that continued for three years, the Islamic mujahids were able to protect the Pontus continent and the city of Amasya with all their strength. But since the Umayyad state was at this time extremely busy within, it was devoting the forces it would send to the Greek land to suppressing internal uprisings.

The emperor Le'on, taking advantage of this preoccupation of the Umayyad state, sent general Yovanis to the Pontus continent for the third time with a great force. Amr ibn Malik el-Bâhilî, "emîrü'l-avâsım" and governor of Amasya, who learned in 122 that general Yovanis was moving toward Amasya, resisted but, unable to hold out, took refuge in the fortress of Harşene.

Although Amr ibn Malik asked for help from Damascus and the surrounding emirs, he must have lost hope of the relief force's coming, for he surrendered the fortress of Harşene to general Yovanis, who had besieged and pressed it, and went to Malatya with those with him.

But Ebu'l-Hüseyin Abdullah el-Battal el-Antâkî, that is, Battal Gazi, who came to help but failed to enter the city, after clashing with the Greeks fell a martyr in the month of Şevval 122 while withdrawing toward Kayseri.

Although the wars of the Arab mujahids in the Pontus continent, their attacks on Harşene and the conquests of so many lands for a full thirty-three years from the Hijri year 89 to the date 122 are recorded in this way in the Arab histories, they are not found in the translated "History of the Eastern Empire" at hand.

Had a whole console-full of documents not burned on the thirteenth Thursday of March 1330 [1914], corresponding to the twenty-eighth day of Rebiülâhir 1332, when the house I lived in as a tenant burned along with the belongings, this historical information could have been expanded further. The cruel fire left us nothing but the power of memory.

After general Yovanis retook the Pontus continent in this way, he was appointed governor of Pontus by the emperor Le'on; this is understood from the Arab histories. Amr ibn Elgâz et-Temîmî, kadı of Amasya, remained as imam to the Muslim community in Amasya; this is understood from the record in Kitâbu'r-Rüvât, "Ebû Abdurrahman Amr ibn Elgâz ibn Rebî'a et-Temîmî el-Harşenî was the imam of the community."

On the sixth day of the month of Rebiülevvel of the year 125, the day the caliph Hişam ibn Abdülmelik died and his brother's son Velîd ibn Yezid ibn Abdülmelik took the caliphal office, the emperor Le'on İsori also died and his son Kostantin, famous as "Kopronim," became Greek emperor.

Since the internal politics of the Umayyad state was not in a healthy form that would satisfy the Muslims, with the death of the caliph Hişam a group of rebels was appearing from every side, the Umayyad state was losing strength trying to suppress them, and the claimants to the caliphate were even setting members of the dynasty against one another.

It was these, the Abbasid faction, whose order was sound and whose supporters were many, who, with the valor with which they besieged Khorasan and having taken Iraq, proclaimed the caliphate of Ebu'l-Abbas Abdullah ibn Muhammed es-Seffah in the city of Kufa on the seventeenth Friday of Rebiülevvel 132, and sacrificed the Umayyad state to the Family of the Prophet, whom they said the Umayyads wished to destroy.

As written in the History of Ibn Asâkir, while the Umayyad faction, to save their lives from Abbasid attacks, each fled to a different side and hid, of the sons Abdullah, Abdurrahman, Eban, Ümeyye and Süleyman of Muaviye ibn Hişam, the conqueror of Amasya, Abdurrahman fled to Andalusia, while Eban, together with his son Abdullah, fled first to Khorasan and then to Harşene, to Amasya, and took refuge under the protection of its emir Covanis (Yovanis) (134).

Yovanis, governor of Amasya, since he knew Eban ibn Muaviye from earlier events, received him well, settled his son and followers in Amasya, and showed generosity by providing for their comfort. But judging by the later event, it is understood that this generosity of Yovanis was a temporary measure to see how things would end.

When in 135 the community imam Amr ibn Elgâz et-Temîmî died, his son Ebu'l-Kasım Abdurrahman el-Harşenî became community imam in Amasya. When in Zilhicce 136, with the death of Ebu'l-Abbas es-Seffah, his brother Ebû Cafer Abdullah el-Mansur became caliph of the Muslims, it must have become clear to Yovanis that it was impossible for the sons of Ümeyye to regain their influence, and he began to change his earlier behavior.

In 138 Yovanis, governor of Amasya, subjected the Muslims living in Amasya to extreme pressure and oppression; after killing Eban ibn Muaviye, whom he had earlier received well, together with his son and followers, he forced the remaining Muslims to accept Christianity. Of those who fled, the community imam Abdurrahman ibn Amr el-Harşenî and his friends went to Kufa and, relating the Greeks' tortures to the caliph Ebû Cafer el-Mansur, asked for help.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• mücâhid: a soldier fighting on the path of Islam, a ghazi
• emîr: commander, governor
• şehîd: one who dies in war for the faith
• istîmân: asking for quarter, surrendering and asking that one's life be spared
• cizye: a tax taken from non-Muslims
• tahsîl memuru: an official who collects taxes
• mecrûh: wounded
• emînü'l-ganâyim: the official in charge of booty
• emîrü'l-avâsım: commander of the fortresses and cities (avâsım) on the Greek frontier
• emîrü'l-mezâlim: the official who hears cases of injustice; in the text, the equivalent of the kadı of Amasya
• kadı: judge
• beytülmâl: the state treasury
• halîfe: the head of the Muslims
• patrik: one of the highest-ranking clergymen of the Orthodox church
• Tarende: Dârende, today a district of Malatya
• Harşene: one of the old names of Amasya
• Bahr-i Bentaş: the Arabic name of the Black Sea

Mesleme and the First Conquest of Amasya

Mesleme ibn Abdülmelik is a son of the Umayyad caliph Abdülmelik. As governor of Armenia and Azerbaijan he organized many campaigns against Byzantium, destroyed Galatia, and plundered Amasya in 712. The 93rd Hijri year (711-12) that Hüsameddin gives coincides with this date. According to encyclopedic sources Amasya was taken by the Arabs in 712, and a few years later Byzantine forces under Leo III (717-741) retook the city; Hüsameddin too relates that Leon retook the city.

On the order of the Byzantine emperors there is a difference between the author's dates and today's records. It is known that Philippikos, born under the name Bardanes, was proclaimed emperor by the army at Kherson in 711, was deposed by blinding on 3 June 713, and was succeeded by Anastasios II. Hüsameddin, however, ties Vartan's (Philippikos's) proclamation to the end of the 89th Hijri year (707-08) and his fall to the Ankara campaign of the years 91-92; this is a few years earlier than today's records. The sequence in which Anastasios was then replaced by Theodosios III and he in turn by Leo III in 717 (715, 717) agrees with the order Hüsameddin gives. Leon's birthplace is Germanikeia (today's Kahramanmaraş), and his mother tongue is said to have been Arabic. The epithet "Isaurian," which Hüsameddin calls "İsori," is regarded by most researchers today as a wrong designation. Leon's death is 741; Hüsameddin gives the Hijri year 125 (742-43) and in a footnote himself notes the discrepancy between the 741 in Greek records and his own calculation.

Battal Gazi and Abdülvehhab Gazi

Battal Gazi, according to the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, is a commander who lived in the Umayyad era; his fame arose in the Byzantine campaigns of 717-740. The sources first mention him at the siege of Istanbul in 717. His place of death is Akroinon, a place near today's Seyitgazi. The date of his death appears in different records as 731, 740 and 741. Hüsameddin, however, shows Battal in the battle of Amasya in 93 (712) and relates his death in 122 (739-40). This last date coincides with the 740 in encyclopedic records; Battal's presence in 712 is not supported by these sources. According to some sources Battal took part, in 732-33, with Muaviye ibn Hişam in a campaign that extended as far as Afyon; Muaviye's campaigns around Amasya also fall in these years.

Abdülvehhab ibn Buht appears in the sources as Battal Gazi's close friend and comrade in arms. He is said to have fallen a martyr in the Hijri year 113 (731). According to one record, in 729 the Islamic army under Emir Muaviye came from Damascus as far as Amasya; Amr ibn el-Veddah, Battal Gazi and Abdülvehhab were also in the army. Muaviye entered Amasya in 730 and gave the emirate of Amasya to Amr and the emirate of Sivas to Abdülvehhab; Constantine, the former governor of Amasya, with the army he brought from the Sinop side, retook first Amasya and then Sivas, and Amr and Abdülvehhab fell martyrs near Sivas in 731. This account largely coincides with the plot Hüsameddin reports; but since this summary follows the same plot as Hüsameddin's account, it should not be counted as independent confirmation.

The tomb of Abdülvehhab Gazi is in Sivas, at the place called Yukarı Tekke, and is still visited today. In popular narratives he is regarded as the Prophet's standard-bearer. According to one tradition he handed the Prophet's relics over to Battal Gazi in Malatya. Considering the age he lived in and the place he fought, these are legend; Hüsameddin too presents him as a person "thought" to be a Pecheneg Turk and of the line of a bey in the village of Zana, and marks this view as a supposition.

The End of the Umayyads and Eban ibn Muaviye

The last part of the text relates the collapse of the Umayyad dynasty and the taking of refuge in Amasya by some Umayyad families. Hüsameddin relates the Abbasids' proclaiming the caliphate of Ebu'l-Abbas es-Seffah in Kufa in the Hijri year 132 (749-50) as the end of the Umayyad state. He writes that of the Umayyad princes named in this section, Abdurrahman fled to Andalusia. A counterpart in another source for the account of Eban ibn Muaviye's taking refuge in Amasya with the Byzantine governor Yovanis and then being killed was not found in this study.

The author's references to "Kitâbu'r-Rüvât" and the "History of Ibn Asâkir" show that Hüsameddin made use of Arabic sources. On which edition of these sources he relied, and whether the records coincide with today's editions, was not examined in this study.

Points to Note

This section shows that Amasya was a frontier city in the early Islamic period. The city is a strategic junction, difficult to hold, and changes hands repeatedly between Byzantium and the Umayyads. The pages in which Hüsameddin relates these events contain a broad compilation of Arab historical sources. The author himself notes that these wars do not appear in the Byzantine history at hand and that there may be a difference of a year or two in the year of events.

The author's personal note is also noteworthy: Hüsameddin relates that he lost a console-full of documents when the house he lived in burned in 1914. The author says that this fire prevented him from expanding his information and that only his memory remained to him.

Approximate Gregorian equivalents of the Hijri years: 90 (708-09), 91 (709-10), 92 (710-11), 93 (711-12), 97 (715-16), 100 (718-19), 107 (725-26), 111 (729-30), 112 (730-31), 113 (731-32), 115 (733-34), 118 (736), 122 (739-40), 125 (742-43), 132 (749-50), 134 (751-52), 138 (755-56).

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 2, p. 290–296. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

• "Battal Gazi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi: https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/battal-gazi
• Hanoğlan Hacıyev, "Bir Emevî Valisi ve Komutanı: Mesleme b. Abdülmelik b. Mervân", İstem, 8/15, 2010, p. 111–142: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/260832
• "Amasya", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi: https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/amasya

Official sources

• "Abdulvahap Gazi Yatırı", T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kültür Portalı: https://www.kulturportali.gov.tr/turkiye/sivas/kulturatlasi/abdulvahap-gazi-yatiri

Other sources

• "Abdullah el-Battal", Vikipedi: https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_el-Battal
• "Abdülvehhâb Gâzî", Vikipedi: https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdülvehhâb_Gâzî
• "Mesleme bin Abdülmelik", Vikipedi: https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesleme_bin_Abdülmelik
• "Philippicus": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippicus
• "Leo III the Isaurian": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_III_the_Isaurian